Intelligent design of conducting network in polymers using numerical and experimental approaches

Abstract

Traditionally, a conjugated polymer is used to constitute a conductive network. An alternative method currently being used is nano-fillers as additives in the polymer. The optimization of fillers/polymer is necessary to form a functional network and preserve the overall mechanical properties of the polymer. This current study consists of two tasks using both experimental and numerical simulation methods to examine the influence of concentration, properties and orientation of carbon nano-fillers. The first task allows for a quick parameter optimization. However in the second task, various experiments were conducted in order to examine the modeling algorithm. Results show that the design of conducting a network is highly dependent on the concentration, orientation, shape of nano-fillers, the nature of the mix of nano-fillers and their mutual interactions.